Sudan’s RSF says UN truce is ploy to re-arm besieged army

June 27, 2025 (PORT SUDAN) – Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Friday rejected a U.N.-proposed humanitarian truce for the besieged city of El Fasher, calling it a ploy by the army to re-arm its beleaguered forces there.

The statement from an RSF advisor was the group’s first public reaction after Sudan’s army chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, agreed to the one-week truce proposed by the United Nations earlier on Friday to allow aid into the city.

In a post on the social media platform X, RSF advisor Elbasha Tbaeq called the truce a “desperate attempt by al-Burhan to bring ammunition and food to his besieged militias” which he said were on their “last legs.”

Tbaeq said the proposal “has nothing to do with humanitarian work” and urged the U.N. to coordinate with the RSF’s humanitarian wing to deliver aid directly to civilians outside El Fasher.

He warned international bodies not to respond to what he termed “booby-trapped” truce calls from the army, which he accused of using civilians as “human shields.”

El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, is the last major city in the vast Darfur region not under RSF control. The city has been besieged by the RSF since April, leading to intense fighting and causing severe shortages of food and medicine, according to aid agencies and residents.

War between the Sudanese army and the RSF erupted in April 2023, devastating the country’s infrastructure, creating the world’s largest displacement crisis, and triggering a severe hunger crisis.